The Golden [Paperback]

Lucius Shepard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2006

Deviating from traditional tales that feature lonely vampires who prowl through human society in search of victims or solace, this account of vampires flourishing in their own "inhuman society" takes place in the year 1860, when their centuries-long breeding experiments have finally produced "The Golden," a mortal whose blood is perfect and powerful. Mobilized by the news of this discovery, aristocratic vampire clans arrive at the looming Castle Banat, where they plan to partake of the sublime blood. To their shock, the guests find that The Golden, a young girl, has been brutally murdered and her blood already drained. The story also follows the Inspector Michael Beheim—a recent vampire—assigned to track down the killer. Recounted in full 19th-century literary style with gothic elements and foreshadowing, the inspector navigates his way through the vampire world and the crime therein.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nebula and World Fantasy award winner Shepard ( Kalimantan, The Ends of the Earth ) here enters the current vampire novel sweepstakes, breathing new life into some shopworn conventions with flowing, seductive prose and lush imagery. Young vampire Michel Beheim comes to the Castle Banat in Eastern Europe with his mentor, Lord Roland Agenor, for the ritual Decanting, at which the extended vampire Family will share in the rare blood of the specially bred victim called the Golden. But when the Golden is brutally murdered before the event, Agenor puts Beheim, once chief of detectives for the Paris police, in charge of the investigation. Soon the young vampire is embroiled in family intrigues and facing the fearsome Patriarch of the vampires himself. Beheim's investigation becomes an odyssey of personal growth as he confronts his vampire nature with all its internal conflicts, including his uncertain feelings for his human servant, Giselle, and his growing love for a lovely vampire, Lady Alexandra Conforti, whom he cannot bring himself to trust. Shepard adds a wild, phantasmagoric element to his vampire lore through the sprawling mystery of Castle Banat, and through his focus on vampires interacting among themselves rather than roaming the world of mortals as do the caped counts and modern nightclub stalkers who crowd most nosferatu novels.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Shepard's new venture is a seamless blend of police procedural, gothic romance, and vampire yarn. The time period is circa 1860, and the old world settings, rich with fabulist overtones, are given a nice dusty feel by Shepard's skillfull utilization narrative techniques associated with nineteenth-century fiction. Michel Beheim, once a Parisian police prefect, has survived a vampire bite (with the usual consequences) and has subsequently been inducted into the Family, a secret society of the immortal creatures whose dark history dates back thousands of years. Beheim is called upon to resurrect his skills and ferret out a murderer whose crime, the unauthorized "decanting" of the blood of a ceremonial victim, threatens the Family's fragile balance of power. Shepard's understated eroticism and his interspersed polemics on the "inhuman" condition add flair and substance to this remarkable book. --Elliott Swanson, BookList

Few works of vampire fiction refresh their exhausted, clichéd subject. But The Golden imparts vibrant energy to the old corpse.... The Golden is, however implausibly, an original vampire novel. --Parsec

Shepard adds a wild, phantasmagoric element to his vampire lore through the sprawling mystery of Castle Banat, and through his focus on vampires interacting among themselves rather than roaming the world of mortals as do the caped counts and modern nightclub stalkers who crowd most nosferatu novels. --Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Golden Gryphon Press (April 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193084638X
• ISBN-13: 978-1930846388
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,947,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Like Anne Rice's vampires? Read this!, April 5, 2000

By 

"hoglips" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Golden (Hardcover)

I have to agree with the sentiments of a reviewer that can't believe this thorougly entertaining novel is not in print. What a shame. If you enjoyed Anne Rice's vampire novels or "Tap Tap" or "The Book of Common Dread"; you'll enjoy this. Shepard's prose is very lush & rich. His characters are suitably creepy and dark. Without giving too much away-this not only a superb murder mystery; but a frightening vampire love story.

I would recommend this book to any fan of vampire novels.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Can't Believe This Book Is Out of Print, July 7, 1999

By 

D. Read "Maximumdread" (GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Golden, The (Hardcover)

I can't believe this book is out of print--or maybe I should not be surprised. Lucius Shepard is a giant, one of our best living writers. This book is a masterpiece. Forget the fact that it is about vampires. Track down a copy of this, and check out "Life During Wartime", "Green Eyes", and "The Ends of the Earth" while you're at it. Lucius, where are you? We need some new books!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well-written, pretentious vampire mystery., July 22, 1997

By 

R. Byrd "byrdie" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Golden, The (Hardcover)

The product of generations of breeding, a young woman exists to provide blood best described as "The Golden," an elixir that can get the most jaded vampire drunk as a skunk from just a taste. For years the creme de la creme of vampire society has been waiting for just a sip of her.

She's just been found murdered and drained.

And so, in a castle full of grumpy, snobby, ancient vampires, a young-blood with a police background is charged with finding the murderer. Granted, his suspects could easily tear him to pieces, but Michel is eager to bring the murderer to justice because our young detective was one of the few who sampled The Golden before she died.

Shepard manages to use elegant writing to evoke a mood and period without creating a 500-plus page exercise in listening to himself talk. The book and the world it shows feels lush and decadent. I find this book unique in that it has the single best description of the sun as an enemy that I have ever read.

I recommend this book for people interested in 80's and 90's vampire novels that have a historical feel to them.